Noah Wolf Box Set 4

by David Archer

  “Yeah,” Tushar said, “out in my car. Put one in every bag, but be sure not to eat any. They were made special, they were, just for nobs.”

  Harry stared at him for a moment, and then smiled. “Just for the nobs,” he said. “I get the feeling there might be a few less nobs in the world after this. Am I right?”

  Tushar smiled, but said nothing. Harry’s smile got even bigger.

  “Come on out to the car, then?” he asked, and both Harry and Lenny got to their feet. They followed him out to the car and he handed over two large boxes.

  “Remember,” he said, “just one into every bag. That’s all you have to do, then give me a call and I’ll bring you the rest of the money. Still got my phone number?”

  “I got it saved in my phone,” Harry said. “Don’t worry, you’ll be hearing from us well before morning.”

  Tushar smiled once more, then got into his car and drove away. There was very little doubt in his mind that they would get the job done, but theirs was only half of what was needed. The rest would be up to Rashad Ibrahim.

  He took out his phone and dialed Tariq. The old man answered on the second ring.

  “It has begun,” Tushar said. “The first part is already set into motion.”

  “As I knew it would be,” Tariq said. “Allah has blessed you, and more blessings await you. I—Tushar, someone has just broken the door. Someone is here.”

  “Broken the door?” Tushar asked. “What do you…”

  The sound of gunshots came to the phone, and Tariq fell silent. Tushar listened as more shots rang out, and then only seconds later, someone was shouting at Tariq to get down.

  The old man had been captured. Tushar cut off the call, then threw the phone out the car window. The thought of old Tariq being in the hands of the SIS was terrible, but Allah sometimes demanded sacrifices. The Realignment must go on, no matter who he might lose.

  After all, this was why Tariq had insisted that he maintain several safehouses. He drove toward the next one, waiting until he had traveled a couple of miles before taking out another phone and turning it on. He dialed a number from memory and waited until it was answered.

  “Suleiman,” Tushar said. “Tariq has been arrested. I need you to go to Rashad Ibrahim immediately and bring him to me. Be certain that you are not followed, because I have reason to believe that Ibrahim is being watched, and might even be a traitor to our cause.”

  “Yes,” Suleiman said, “I know. I was with him. Two men came in, they killed everyone else. When I knew that Tariq was taken alive, I escaped through the window. I have my car, so I am on the way to do as you say.”

  Suleiman was young, but he was no fool. He was also faithful, Tushar knew, and would do what he was told.

  Tushar ended the call and drove on to the next safe house, in Battersea. Suleiman would find Ibrahim, and would know where to bring him.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  “Look,” Sam said. “Somebody is running.”

  As he and Denny watched, a man came running from the side of the house and hurried to a car, a Jaguar F type that was sitting at the curb. It started instantly and the car roared away. Denny started the Volvo and put it into gear, pressing the gas pedal just hard enough to keep the Jaguar in sight.

  Sam’s phone rang, and he looked to see that it was Noah calling.

  “Prichard,” he said. “You are right, somebody took off. We’re tailing him. I don’t know who it is, but I’m pretty sure it was not Tushar.”

  “Excellent, that’s what I wanted. Try not to spook them, just do your best to keep them in sight and figure out where they go. Marco and I had a little better luck, we’ve managed to arrest a suspect. We’ll take him back to HQ for questioning and wait to hear from you. Maybe your quarry will lead you to the real target.”

  “We can only hope,” Sam said. “I’ll let you know when I know something else.”

  Up ahead, the Jaguar made a sudden left turn and then poured on the speed. By the time they got to the same intersection, it was more than a block away.

  “I think he just figured out he’s being followed,” Denny said. He floored the Volvo, but it was only a matter of seconds before he and Sam both knew that it was no match for the Jaguar. The car made another hard right turn, and was completely out of sight by the time they got there.

  “Well, crap,” Sam said. “I guess I better call it in.”

  “Hang on a moment,” Denny said. “Let’s just cruise around the neighborhood for a moment, maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  He wandered through the neighborhood streets for about three minutes, but then finally shook his head. “Sorry, Sam,” he said. “I’m afraid we lost him, whoever it was.”

  “Hang on, I have an idea.” Sam took out his phone and hit the speed dial icon for his wife. “Babe? I need your help. Can you hack your way into the London traffic camera system?”

  “I’m sure I can,” Indie replied. “What are we looking for?”

  “A new, blue Jaguar F type,” Sam said. “License number is Alpha November Five Six Romeo Kilo Zulu. Denny and I were following it, but it disappeared.”

  “All right, give me a couple of minutes.” Sam heard her tapping away on a keyboard, and waited for nearly three minutes before she spoke again. “Hey, Herman found it. The car is just leaving a house on Oaks Way, and just now turned onto Balfour road, going south. Where are you?”

  “We are at the corner of Boundary Road and Brambledown Road,” Sam replied.

  “I’m looking, I’m looking—okay, found it. You’re really actually very close, about half a mile away. Turn west onto Brambledown, then take a left onto Pine Ridge. Follow that down to Cranfield Road and turn right, because I’m watching the Jaguar on another screen and I think that will put you real close to where he’s going to come out on the Stanley Square Road. Cranfield runs right into Stanley Square, and I think you’ll get close before he gets there.”

  “Great job, babe,” Sam said. “Watch him closely, in case he turns before we get there.”

  “No problem, I’m watching. How’s it going over there?”

  “It’s going,” Sam replied. “I just wish we had better luck. I’m not sure who it is we’re following, but he’s connected to Tushar, the suspect.”

  “Okay, but be careful. I need you to come home safely, Sam. Where are you? Have you made it to the curve on Stanley Square yet?”

  “Just going through it now. How much farther to where the Jaguar is?”

  “He actually just turned right onto Stanley Square, and he should be less than a hundred feet in front of you. Can you see him?”

  “There he is, Sam,” Denny said. “I’m going to hang back a bit, mate, try not to get spotted again.”

  “We’ve got him, baby,” Sam said. “I’ll call you later, when I get back to the hotel.” He cut off the call without thinking, and suspected he would regret it later. For the moment, all he cared about was keeping his eyes on the Jaguar.

  “I’m calling it in,” Sam replied. He looked at his phone again and called Noah to tell him what was going on.

  “All right, good work, Sam. Let me know if you find anything.”

  Denny kept the Volvo back a few cars, but the Jaguar didn’t seem to be trying to shake them. They followed it across the city, all the way to the point where it stopped and pulled into a driveway. Denny cruised slowly past, and they saw the man who was driving the car step out, and that another man was with him.

  “I only saw one person come running out of the house,” Sam said. “Did you see anybody else get into the car with him?”

  “No,” Denny said. “Apparently he made a stop to pick up a guest. Should we try to take them now?”

  Sam had kept his cell phone in his hand after his conversation with Noah, and quickly activated its camera. He snapped two quick shots before the suspects were out of sight, and then turned back to Denny.

  “Not just yet,” he said. “Let me send these back to Noah and see if they mean anything to him.”
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br />   * * * * *

  The old man offered no resistance as they brought him out of the back seat at SIS headquarters. Noah had been riding in the back with him while Marco drove. He stepped out without a word, and Noah took hold of his arm as they walked into the building.

  “Any idea who he is?” Liam asked, coincidentally standing by the door.

  “He hasn’t said a word yet,” Noah replied. “I’m pretty sure he understands English, but he hasn’t answered any questions. I figure I’ll let Albert take a swing at him.”

  “Yeah,” Marco said. “And if he doesn’t get anywhere, we can turn him over to Jenny.”

  Albert took one look at the prisoner and broke into a smile. “Tariq al-Bassar,” he said. “I might have bloody known you’d be mixed up in there somewhere.” He looked at Noah. “This old bugger has been on our watchlist for more than twenty years. You heard of the Iran hostage situation, back in the seventies? Tariq was an acolyte of the Ayatollah, back then, and he’s been floating from one jihadist group to another ever since.”

  Tariq was taken into a room and handcuffed to a steel chair, and then an MI6 interrogation specialist was brought in. He sat across the table from the old man, smiled at him and said, “I have been waiting years for an opportunity to speak to you. Do you know why that is?”

  Tariq said nothing. He simply looked at the interrogator without any facial expression.

  “Well, I’ll tell you anyway. You see, my father was killed when he and his team were sent to arrest you, about twenty years ago. I was just a teenager then, but I already knew I wanted to work in the intelligence services. Then, it turns out I had a knack for languages and interrogation, so I suppose my preparations paid off. Here we are, you and I, facing each other across the table. It’s really too bad we are a civilized country. I think a little torture right now would suit me just fine.”

  Tariq smiled at him. “And that would make you no different from me,” the old man said. “And that is all I have to say.”

  The interrogator nodded at the guard and the door was closed. Noah, Marco, Sam and Denny continued on to the conference room.

  “Well,” Catherine said when they entered, “the day has not been a total loss. If Tariq is involved with Tushar, it is probably as a mentor, an advisor. He will almost certainly know what Tushar is planning, but the question remains as to whether we can get that information from him. Men like him, especially at his age, seem to be able to resist our questioning quite well.”

  Jenny, who was back from her errand with Sarah, leaned forward and smiled. “He won’t if I take a crack at him,” she said. “Care to let me try?”

  “I have hopes it won’t come to that,” Catherine said. “Forgive me, but I have read some of your after action reports, remember?”

  Jenny held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay,” she said. “Just remember, the offer stays on the table. Trust me, I’ll find out anything he knows.”

  Noah’s phone vibrated to indicate an incoming message, and he took it out and looked at it. A photograph appeared, followed by a second one, and he handed the phone to Catherine.

  “Sam just took these pictures of the people getting out of the car he was following,” he said. “Anybody recognize either of them?”

  Catherine shook her head and passed the phone to Albert. He looked at it for a moment, then seemed to do a double take.

  “Somebody check on Rashad Ibrahim,” he ordered. “Because that bloody well looks like him in this photo.”

  Somebody made a phone call to the surveillance team that had been keeping an eye on Mr. Ibrahim, and then looked up at Albert. “Team three says he left with a friend about fifteen minutes ago. They didn’t know whether to follow or not, so they stayed put.”

  “Bloody hell,” Albert said. “Call Prichard, get the location. Tushar probably changed things up after you arrested Tariq, so he’s sent someone to pick up Ibrahim. He must’ve smelled a trap.”

  Noah had already hit the button to dial Sam, and he answered immediately.

  “One of those men is Mr. Ibrahim, the one we were using for bait. Where are you, Sam?”

  Sam gave him the address of the house. “What do you want us to do? Should we try to take them now?”

  “No, wait for backup. We’re leaving now, so it’ll probably take us about twenty minutes to get to you. Stay out of sight until then, if you can.”

  “We parked the car behind a moving van, but we can see the house pretty clearly. Nobody has come back out since they went in.”

  “Good,” Noah said. “Call me if anything changes.”

  Noah and Marco were up already, with Albert, Liam, Charles and Catherine following. They went out the door and got into cars, then Albert took the lead. His car was equipped with a siren, and he turned it on to cut down the travel time.

  * * * * *

  Inside the house Sam and Denny were watching, Suleiman was peeking between the slats of the blinds. “We were followed,” he said. “I believe that is the same car that followed me from the house where Tariq was taken.”

  Ibrahim tried to look over his shoulder, but couldn’t really make out the car. “This is a problem?”

  “I’m certain it is,” Suleiman said. “I do not believe Tushar would like anyone to know that he is meeting with you.”

  “Then, perhaps you should call him,” Ibrahim said.

  Suleiman was already holding his phone and dialing the number. “Tushar? This is Suleiman. I have brought your guest to the safe house, but I believe that I was followed.”

  He listened for a moment, then nodded his head. “Yes, yes, I know where to go. We shall be there soon.”

  He turned to Ibrahim. “Tushar wishes us to go to another location,” he said. “We will need to go out the back and avoid being seen. Come, we must go now.”

  Ibrahim followed him out the back door of the house and through the gate in the back fence. They cut across another yard and into an alley, and then Suleiman stepped into the street where traffic was moving slowly. A car stopped to avoid hitting him, and Suleman withdrew a pistol from his pocket and pointed at the driver.

  The driver, a woman, screamed and got out of the car. Suleiman motioned for Ibrahim to get into the car, and then slid behind the wheel. They drove away quickly, leaving the woman standing in the street.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Things were going quite well, Tushar thought. Everything was falling perfectly into place. The last bit of preparation had just been completed, and now it was time to set everything into motion.

  The trip to Blackbushe Airport had taken a bit of time out of his day, but it was certainly going to pay off. The mask he wore, combined with his clipped British accent, easily helped to convince the operators of the flying service that he was a local businessman who only wanted to pay homage to the queen. Since he was ready to provide the glitter powder in a pressurized tank that could be mounted under the airplane, and was willing to pay more than a thousand quid just to have them fly over the city and dump the glitter just after the investiture ceremony, it was no trouble to talk them into it.

  As he drove back into London, Tushar couldn’t help but look around and wonder just how big a job it was going to be to haul off all of the bodies.

  * * * * *

  The house was empty. Albert cursed as he walked through it a third time, but Ibrahim was nowhere to be found. A thorough search of the house was made, but the only thing they found was a case containing several of Tushar’s masks. After half an hour, they returned to their headquarters with Sam and Denny following.

  The sun was getting low in the sky by the time they made it back, and Albert suggested they all get some sleep. Tariq would be held overnight, kept incommunicado since he was considered an enemy of the state. Interrogators would continue to question him throughout the night, but so far, he was giving up no information.

  “Tomorrow’s the big day,” Albert said. “The investiture begins at noon, but with absolutely no idea how Tushar intends to at
tack, all we can do is bolster security as far as possible. If Ibrahim turns up, we will be notified. I suggest everybody get some sleep, because tomorrow may well be a terrible day in history.”

  Catherine agreed with him, and everyone headed back to the hotels. Noah invited Sam and Denny to join the team for dinner, and Sam surprised him by accepting. They went to the hotel restaurant and were lucky enough to find a table large enough for eight.

  “I’m afraid I’ve let you down, Noah,” Sam said when they were seated. “I think this is just too far outside my range of experience.”

  “I think that’s nonsense,” Noah said. “My gut tells me you still have a contribution to make, Sam, so don’t give up on me yet.”

  “I’m not going anywhere yet,” Sam said. “I just wish I knew what to do.”

  They all ate dinner quietly and then went to their rooms. As Albert had suggested, they wanted to get some rest to be ready for whatever might transpire the following day. Sam took some time to call his wife and speak to his daughter while Denny got a shower, and then took one of his own. Despite the extra hours of sleep they had gotten that morning, both men were tired and went to bed before the sun was all the way down.

  * * * * *

  Suleiman delivered Ibrahim as promised, and Tushar welcomed him into the safe house. The stolen car was dropped a few blocks away by one of Tushar’s soldiers, and then Tushar and Ibrahim sat down to talk privately.

  “I’m sorry for having to change our plans,” he said. “Unfortunately, it seems that the government is doing everything it can to put a stop to my activities. Were you aware that they were listening to your telephone conversations?”

  Ibrahim’s eyes went wide in a very convincing expression of surprise. “They’re listening to my calls? But why? I have never done anything to arouse the suspicions of the government. If anything, I would think that I have proven my value to them on many occasions.”

  “I agree,” Tushar said. “I have taken the liberty of studying your accomplishments, and you have been a model citizen of the United Kingdom. However, the fact remains that they were able to listen to your call. It was actually one of my men who called to arrange our dinner this evening, and they were able to trace the call back to the house where we had been staying. Fortunately, I was out taking care of some business, so I was not apprehended. Some of my men, however, were killed, and my closest friend was taken prisoner.”